REEEP and ESMAP highlight low-carbon successes

Underlining the overall DIREC theme of how to upscale and mainstream renewable energy technologies, the official side event hosted by REEEP and ESMAP (the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program, a multi-donor program hosted by the World Bank), highlighted four successful renewable energy projects, drawn from a variety of settings. These included urban and rural, and a variety of renewable energy technologies ranging from solar and min-hydro to geothermal.

The event, entitled Widening access to low carbon energy: REEEP and ESMAP examples in overcoming barriers, was held on the afternoon of Wednesday, 27th October, and attracted an audience of more than 50 people.

Cindy Suh, Senior Strategy & Operations Officer from ESMAP outlined a successful project in the Philippines that aimed for sustainable development of the renewable energy market in the Philippine power sector.

Alejandro Peraza-Garcia, the Director General of Mexico’s National Regulatory Commission, gave an overview of a REEEP-funded initiative for framing energy regulations to promote the geothermal industry in Mexico.

Staying with the Mexican setting, Ariel Yepez-Garcia, a Senior Energy Specialist at the World Bank presented a project on how to promote mini-hydro development there, giving a contrast to the approach of two different renewable energy technologies in the same country.

H. Harish Hande, the founder of SELCO Solar Lighting, described his company’s efforts in India to use innovative financing models to deliver both clean energy and the opportunity to generate income.

The presentations were followed by a question and answer session.

“The event gave an excellent cross-section of the successful application of a wide range of renewable technologies,” said Binu Parthan, the moderator of the event and REEEP’s Deputy Director General, “and it highlighted that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to the renewable energy transformation.”